Cold water wash challenge

[pennywise]

Hy Tango, my daughter is jealous of your cat! She loves cats!

I have read this with great interest. I too was baffled by the vinegar/baking soda. The baking soda says to add with the detergent at the start of the wash. The vinegar goes in with the rinse. SooooOOOOO I did it this morning. My clothes came out great. Thank you all who have contributed to my education!!!! I added 1/2 the detergent and 1/2 the soda. I filled and let agitate for a few to get all clothes in. I have always allowed for at least 1.5 hour soak time, then run the washer. I used my downy ball for the vinegar so I did not have to TIME the machine. Another thing I did was key in vinegar use in the search engine, wow, lots of uses. Oh, and I was further lucky because my grocer has gallon vinegar 1.69 this week, normally 2.99 - so I stocked up. I knew about vinegar as a cream rinse for hair because my mother did that. Check it out. Again, thanks for the good conversation.

[mom-from-missouri]

Another great use for baking soda, is to sprinkle it throughout your tent/sleeping bags when you are done with them at the end of this summer season. When you use your tent/sleeping bags for the first time next season, just shake it out--less musty smell! As for the vinegar, it also helps set dyes-which keeps your clothes from fading in color.

[kittycat0604]

I never used the hot water, most time I just use cld water for both cycles, I do not have problems. I usually use better detergent, and use 1/3 of the recomanned amount, I remember saw some advice that it is not the detergent but the friction between your clothes in the washer that make your clothes clean.

[BillsGirl]

Originally Posted by momma4

i have been doing the cold water challange on my own just do warm water with light colored clothes. towels and darks i do cold. I have an average of 12-15 loads a week and I believe only 3-6 are washed in warm.

HOLY MOLY thats alot of dang laundry!! props to you for actually getting it done, if it were me I would be on the lamb!

[PrincessPerky]

wow, so I was thinking that is a lot of laundry, glad I don't have that much, I only do ........ 12-14 amazing how much laundry gets done little by little!

[Luv2shop]

I do 1-2 loads a day. I wash mostly in cold.

[CJsoccerchic]

Between my DH changing like 10 times a day and my job during the day and alter ego student at night, we come up with a LOT of laundry - then to top it off, DH goes to the beach every OTHER day and well, that's 2 loads of TOWELS a WEEK! But, everything is washed in COLD, I couldn't afford to wash in warm anyway!
But the vinegar deal - i do that for new clothes and baking soda... I'll have to give that a shot!

[brandondrury]

How much can you expect to save by doing this?

Brandon

[flash]

Wow, thanks for the great tip!

I do 10 - 12 loads a week, mostly cold or warm/cold, but everytime MD wants to wash the dog stuff in cold I change it to warm because the smell doesn't come out. I can't wait to try the vinegar method!

Thanks.

[CJsoccerchic]

Brandon,
I've been doing this since I started living on my own and paying myown bills, I wish I could give you a dollar amount of HOW much can be saved from doing that, but I read somewhere (wish i could tell you Where!) that it doesn't make your clothes cleaner if you wash in hot water, it just makes your bill bigger. I read it on a website similiar to this but I forget where... Sorry!! But I hope this helps!

[flash]

Hate to be technical, but the need for hot water depends! Depends on if you have soft water, what detergent you use, etc. If you are just washing dirt off, cold is okay, but if you want to get dirt or stains OUT, or trying to kill bacteria/dust mites/other live things, temperature does matter.

Laundry detergents (surfactants) are designed and tested to work best at specific temperatures. You need them to get in and do their job. Seriously, a fortune goes into designing and improving every year!

For towels, anything that may have mold, mildew, etc., hot is best. Bleach works for whites, but it also breaks down the fabric, so it wears out much faster. Allergists will insist you wash sheets HOT, but rinse in cold.

Baking soda OR vinegar both have cleaning properties, but if you use them together, they cancel each other out.

I wash most things warm, I rinse everything cold. But I adjust my detergent to what I'm trying to get out.

[lrjohnson]

My washer somehow broke so that the hot water side provides no water. It would probrbaly be easy for someone so inclined to fix it, but I'm not handy.

This happened over a year ago, and I've been happy to do all cold ever since. If I had a choice I'd do a linens hot water/bleach run. But it's not worth it to me to nuy a new machine for it.

My clothes seem to stay dark longer. I admit I don't have allergies to contend with.

[Jason]

I'm admittedly not a clothes washing expert, but I usually use cold water just because I wash colored clothes with white clothes. From what I understand hot water causes the two to bleed.

[Ima saver]

I always wash in cold water. It is cheaper. And I use Trend detergent, it only cost $1

[abowers]

I don't even pay for my gas this year and I always wash my clothes in a cold cold cycle. I only use hot for towels/sheets/and when I make felted bags.

[flash]

Found this estimate of annual saving by switching to cold water in BL magazine

SWITCH TO COLD WATER = $58

You may shy away from washing clothes in cold water, but with specially formulated detergents, you can conserve energy and funds while getting your whites white. According to Tide’s online calculator (tide.com/tidecoldwater), if you convert four loads each week from hot to cold, you’ll save $58 in a year. Don’t you just love when do-gooding puts green in your pocket?


-- GEOFF VAN DYKE

[Ima saver]

I have washed in cold water all my life, no problems!!

[CheaplyClever]

In order for hot water to kill any germs it would have to be boiling or mixed with bleach. Well, that's my opinion anyway! I have used cold water forever and have no problems. I also use liquid Tide. I'll say it again, bleach works just fine in cold water. Vinegar and baking soda do ok, but absolutely nothing makes a load of laundry any fresher than an old fashioned clothes line on a sunny day!

[Ima saver]

Gosh I had to hang clothes out when I first got married and I hated it. As soon as I could, I got a dryer.

[Lori63]

I think with me it is just a MENTAL problem. I've always used warm/cold, and hot/cold for whites.
I have switched to doing the colors in cold and the whites in warm. I'm making progress. Of course, our hot water is heated by gas and our last gas bill was a big incentive. I hang all the shirts, and usually run 1 dryer load for every 2 wash loads. I do at least 12 loads a week-me+hubby+3 boys who wrestle, run, play soccer.